London urged to boycott bottled water

Londoners are being urged to boycott bottled water over fears that a major rise in consumption is damaging the environment.

Today, the Green Party launched a campaign asking Londoners to request tap water in restaurants and pubs.

Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, said: "Londoners need to show some independence and show that ordering tap water with your meal or in the pub is the fashionable and the right thing to do. Selling bottled water and burning huge quantities of fossil fuels for its transportation does not make economic or environmental sense."

The call comes just days after city officials in New York launched a similar campaign to persuade people to abandon bottled water.

Local restaurants there have been encouraged to support the "Get Your Fill" campaign. The city is spending £350,000 on radio adverts and posters for what they describe as "the champagne of municipal waters".

Londoners drink the bottled water equivalent of just over one Olympic-sized swimming pool per week, of which 25 per cent is imported.

The capital now consumes more bottled water than Coca-Cola, for the first time. It is now the world's fastest-growing drinks sector worth £1.2bn a year.

The industry claims it has improved recycling rates but opponents say the huge transport costs of water make it one of the least green products on the market.